Maintaining control of lanes and dividing players and attention between each lane is key to the strategy of Heroes of the Storm. Each battleground requires a different approach, and various strategies are possible for each, determined by team composition and player preference, as well as the actions of the opposition.

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Laning means occupying a specific lane. Generally performed to acquire Experience or to exert Map pressure. From levels 1-10, it is crucial to harvest as much experience (XP) as possible from the incoming waves of minions who advance from the enemy Core across the battlefield’s lanes. This early portion of the game is an extremely critical time, as the first team to reach level 10 will unlock their Heroic Ability.

It should also be noted that XP from downed minions is acquired so long as a Hero is within the general vicinity (approximately within vision range) of the defeated unit. This should prove helpful, especially for heroes who are soloing a lane that need to temporarily retreat to the safety of their own fort during an ambush. Heroes that have more survivability (ex: Sonya, Dehaka), or those who can apply global pressure through abilities that will let them quickly traverse the battleground (ex: Brightwing, Falstad), are great considerations for lanes that may need to be soloed.

In addition to slain minions, Heroes will also accrue XP by destroying opposing structures, acquiring mercenaries, and killing enemy Heroes.

Pushing the lane refers to killing minions and forts in a specific lane. Pushing a lane is important as it allows your creeps to reach a tower and kill it, and ultimately the Core. People will often tell another player to push a lane while the enemy team is dead, or while they are all distracted somewhere else, allowing a single person to sneakily kill forts.

Pushing lanes too heavily can cause you a lot of problems. The minions will be closer to your opponent's building than to yours, which makes soaking more risky than it should be. On top of that, it’s usually easier for your opponent to safely soak for the same reasons.

The complete opposite of pushing a lane would be freezing it. Freezing a lane means to do as little damage as possible to the opponent's minions. Keeping the opponents minions alive will lead to you minions dying faster.

If your opponent had to go back or isn’t anywhere near your lane, this will deny them experience. Your opponent's minions will push towards your tower, and if the timing works out in our favor, will kill a few of your own minions right at the gate. Use this advantage in positioning to deny your opponent as much experience as possible. You denying experience, even if it’s only a small amount, could lead to having the talent tier advantage.[1]

Roaming refers to another strategy where instead of a focusing on a particular lane, one or more allies actively scout for easy enemy Hero kills and siege opportunities. While roaming, Heroes can hide in vision blockers, such as bushes or vents, to obscure their presence from other players until they strike. This is an especially effective strategy for capable assassins with great burst damage, who are hoping to surprise players who have wandered too far into enemy lane territory.

Towers, Forts, and Keeps give large amounts of XP when destroyed. Look for opportunities to safely bring these down.

There’s no need to worry about kill stealing. Killing Heroes, capturing Mercs, and destroying Structures will always grant XP to your team, no matter who landed the final blow. However, do keep in mind that your team will miss out on minion XP if no ally Heroes are in range when they die.

Look for opportunities in lane to deny your opponent Regen Globes (dropped by caster minions in the center of a minion wave) when they’re low on health and mana, or punish your opponent if they extend too far to grab one.

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